Resource development, plant location, and government influence : a spatial analysis of the Australian metalliferous mineral industries

Description

This thesis examines the development of selected
metalliferous minerals in Australia and the evolution of
spatial patterns of mining and processing industries. It
is submitted that powers of geographical analysis are
increased by considering resource development and plant
location in an integrated framework, and that such a
structure can be developed from classical least-cost
location theory (which, in its present form, is deficient
in its notions of resources). The thesis begins by...[Show more] considering
this theory and suggests simple (informal) models
to represent 'resource creation' as a spatial process.
The resource creation process begins with the
collection of information (exploration) and the development
of mines, and culminates in the supply of metal, in usable
forms such as steel and aluminium ingot, to user-industries.
The remainder of this study identifies and measures the
parameters of this process and argues that the evolving
spatial pattern of metal resources and attendant processing
industries cannot be adequately explained without knowledge
of institutional factors such as vertical-integration and,
particularly, the spatial influence of government policy.
The empirical part of the thesis measures the main
parameters of the processes for the five most important
metalliferous minerals in Australia. Detailed analysis
is made of demand parameters, regional production costs,
transport costs, and the influence of isolation (reflected
in levels of infrastructural investment by mineral
companies). The aluminium industry is used as a case-study,
but comparative data are drawn from the iron and steel,
copper, lead, and zinc industries. The study is constructed in terms of the classical theory, and optimal patterns
of location are generated for the aluminium industry using
linear programming. Costs of resource development are
specifically included in the models. The patterns are used as 'bench-marks' against which to test the actual patterns.
The importance of critical production factors in mining and
processing is stressed, and much of the deviation between
actual and theoretical patterns results from institutional
factors, including government policies. For the other
industries, least-cost location theory (as modified)
appears to have reasonable explanatory power.
The study concludes with a consideration of government
policies in Australia as a variable in the resource
creation process, concentrating on their influence on
location. Commonwealth and State governments, operating
under different Constitutional constraints, have different
primary goals in mineral policies, and some examples of
conflict are given. Commonwealth spatial influence is
restricted, and examples show that much of it is incidental
or accidental. The State governments play an important
role in resource creation through mining leases (in which
obligations are often imposed on companies) and royalties,
but exercise more spatial influence if they can manipulate
the regional costs identified in the empirical part of the
thesis.
Despite a wide range of government influences on
resource creation, much policy has had little spatial
impact on patterns of mining and processing in Australia;
the most pervasive influence seems to operate not directly
but through other parameters. This is the most difficult
institutional influence to measure, however, and calls for
an improved conceptual framework before the resource
creation process can be completely understood.